Without rushing, how long does it take you to load that up from the water to the roof? And also, from the roof to the water? Thanks.

It's like having three "regular" kayaks strapped to the roof. The main hull has three belly straps along with bow & stern lines, and each ama has two belly straps. The main hull slides on/off with less effort than I expected, and the tie downs are no sweat. The amas are a simple, almost one-hande operation... just lift & strap.

I'm new at this, so it takes a few minutes to do a thorough job from start to finish. However, I imagine that as my paranoia fades, and my experience grows, I'll get a little faster.

Just a suggestion, but couldn't you move the TI so that it is level with the front of your car so that the overhang at the rear is reduced?

Yeah, I actually want to have the main hull more forward than what is pictured, but here was my line of thinking at the time:

As loaded in the photos, the main hull's center of gravity is centered on the three supporting cross-bars. As such, there's already a lot of overhang on the hull's forward end. Being new to this sort of thing, I feared that excess overhang up front would invite the wind to catch the bow and put undue stress on the hull and/or its forward tie-downs. In short, I had visions of disaster, followed by me sitting in court answering accusations of negligence.

I had also considered getting a front hitch receiver and using a Thule Goalpost (similar to the Yakima DryDock) up front, and I still may go that route in the future. However, I would use it in combination with the Yakima DryDock on the rear, as that is what allows me to load this beast atop the vehicle.

TIs are just not made for car topping IMO. We just went thru a "personal responsibility, bad judgment, and Hobie's responsibility" example with the scupper holes/Hobie cart problem. The TI-on-car-top is a "worse nightmare" case waiting to happen.

Keith

_________________2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

I'm hoping to purchase a tandem island but the rack on my Toyota Sienna is only rated for 150 pounds. I could get the amas inside. I was thinking of Thule kayak fittings. Our dealer checked and the hull weight is 140 pounds. Any suggestions? I saw the article in Feb Practical Sailor, now just have to convince my wife! Thanks for an excellent forum! Kirk

See if you can arrange a demo/water trial with your dealer or someone who owns one near you. The TI is the perfect vessel to take introduce an apprehensive wife or novice sailor IMO.Make sure it's a nice warm sunny day, the plam trees a swinging gently in the breeze (not too much and not too little - 5 to 12 mph should be OK), you've organised the mood music and Mai Tais etc.It might also clinch the deal if the male dealer who takes her out has a great body & suntan

Captkirk:I have a TI and I cartop it on my Yukon without any difficulty. Our old 2007 Oasis was around 75 lbs and about 3 feet shorter than the TI (15.5ft vs 18.5ft). I have not weighed my TI hull, but I'm pretty sure it weighs around 90-95 lbs (without AKA's or AMA's, or any stowed gear) and really can't tell the difference loading the TI verses the old Oasis and I'm not a big guy. We bought the Oasis and a Revo back in 2007 and drove about 40,000 road miles all over the country with them both mounted on the roof (never had a problem). I am out every weekend (year round) and have no difficulty loading and unloading off the car by myself, I only lift half the weight at any time (about 45 lbs). I use the Malone Seawing racks with the stinger self loader. I actually have two of the stingers, one pointed forward at the front and the other pointed backwards at the back, this give me 4 contact points on the boat spread way apart, I added the second stinger because the boat would rock up and down when I went over railroad tracks, it no longer does that. I have 2 1/2 in dia pool noodles about 8 inches long wrapped in electrical tape roped under the stingers to help support the weight, and keep the stingers from flopping in the wind. When I strap the yaks down I make sure to strap through the main bars on the edges of the cars roof rack (strongest point). When we go up north for the summer we will have the TI, Sails, Revolution, and the AMA's all up on the roof and I expect to put on around 10k to 15k miles over the summer traveling around the country and don't expect any problems. On longer trips I will add a front strap to the tow hook on the front of the vehicle for added safety, I don't bother on short trips. We live in a restricted neghborhood and trailers are not allowed, and when we travel we have our camper on the hitch, so a trailer is out of the question. I have motorcycle chain locks (like they use on scooters) that lock the kayaks to the main beams of the roof rack (through the mirage drive holes) so they can't be removed, and seldom remove the yaks off of the car when traveling (just can't go through Mcdonalds drive thru). Hope this helps. Bob2007 Revolution2010 Tandem Island